There's some hope for Sony! Xperia 1 VI pre-orders are up 50% in Taiwan
Sony has made several changes to the Xperia 1 VI such as changing the aspect ratio to a more comfortable 19.5:9 from the previous too-tall and too-thin 21:9. While the size of the display remains 6.5 inches, the resolution has dropped (from 1644 x 3840 to 1080 x 2340) and it has a variable 1Hz-120Hz refresh rate. The screen is 50% brighter, a real positive for those who are out often. The powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 application processor is under the hood and Sony's newly redesigned Camera app puts all the features you want right at your fingertips. The Xperia 1 VI can take photos with an optical zoom of up to 7.1x.
We've pointed out in the past that Sony has a fairly low .35% share of the global smartphone market which doesn't seem to make sense considering that Sony is a consumer product powerhouse marketing devices like the Walkman, the PlayStation video game console, and more. We can't tell if there is something in the water or the consumers in Taiwan have been hypnotized, but per GSMArena, pre-orders for the Xperia 1 VI are up 50% in that country compared to pre-orders for last year's Xperia 1 V model during the same time period year-over-year.
The Sony Xperia 1 VI ships on May 31st
Some pre-order perks might have helped. Those pre-ordering a model with 256GB of native storage received a free upgrade to 512GB of storage, although this promotion has ended. Those pre-ordering the device receive a two-month free subscription to lossless audio service KKBOX, and if you purchase the 256GB variant of the phone from a Sony store, you get a credit of NTD 1,000 ($31.11) to use on accessories. Buy the 512GB model and your credit rises to NTD 2,000 ($62.22).
The 256GB Xperia 1 VI is priced at NTD 40,000 ($1,245) while the 512GB variant will cost you NTD 44,000 ($1,370). Sony is not offering the Xperia 1 VI in the U.S. this year and while the handset was unveiled on May 23rd, it will start shipping on May 31st.
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